Dharani Dhar Awasthi Explained
Dharani Dhar Awasthi (28 September 1922, Naret village, Pithoragarh District, Uttarakhand – 21 August 2011, Lucknow)[1] was an Indian botanist, taxonomist, and lichenologist, often given the appellation "Father of Indian Lichenology".[2]
Education and career
Awasthi graduated in botany from the University of Lucknow with B.Sc. in 1943 and M.Sc. in 1945. From 1945 to 1946 he was a research assistant in the University of Lucknow's department of botany. From 1946 to 1948 he worked at Kolkata's Botanical Garden and Herbarium in a stipendiary training programme in systematic botany and taxonomy.[1] In 1947 he received a Ph.D. from the University of Lucknow.[3] His doctoral advisor was Sachindra Nath Das Gupta (1902–1990). From 1948 to 1952 Awasthi worked as a botanical assistant at Lucknow's National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI).[1] From 1952 until the end of his career he was (except for sabbaticals) a faculty member in the University of Lucknow's botany department.[2] With support from the Fulbright Program he studied from 1960 to 1963 in the US for advanced training in lichenology under William Alfred Weber at the University of Colorado Boulder. There in 1963 Awasthi received his second Ph.D.[1] In 1963 he returned to the University of Lucknow. During his career there he was the doctoral advisor for eight Ph.D. students,[2] including Dalip Kumar Upreti. At the University of Lucknow, when Awasthi was superannuated in the 1990s, Lucknow's pioneering school of lichenology was closed, but his students flourished in various universities and institutions.[1]
The lichen genera Awasthiella and Awasthia,[4] as well as several lichen species, are named in his honour.[1]
Awards and honours
- 1978 — Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences[2]
- 1984 — Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy[2]
- 1991 — Professor P Maheshwari Lecture Award of the Indian National Science Academy[2]
- 1992 — Acharius Medal of the International Association of Lichenology[2] [3]
- 1993 — Honorary Member of the British Lichen Society[2]
- 2011 — Dharani Dhar Awasthi Award established by the International Association for Lichenology to be given to a "prominent young researcher working and living in a low income country, who has completed a Ph.D. within five years prior to the submission deadline"[5]
Selected publications
Articles
- Awasthi, D.D.. Some foliose and fruticose lichens from Assam and North-East Frontier Agency of India. Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Section B. 54. 24. 1961. 10.1007/BF03053852. 126891656.
- 10.1139/b68-136. New or otherwise interesting lichens from Darjeeling District, India. 1968. Awasthi. Dharani Dhar. Agarwal. Manjoo Rani. Canadian Journal of Botany. 46. 8. 1025–1030.
- Lichen Genus Phaeographis from India and Sri Lanka. 21. 1–4. 1979. Singh, K. P.. Awashti, D. D.. Nelumbo: The Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India.
- 3242823. The Typification of Roccella montagnei. Awasthi. Dharani Dhar. The Bryologist. 1981. 84. 2. 216–219. 10.2307/3242823.
- Awasthi, D. D.. 1982. Lichen genus Cetraria in India and Nepal. Nelumbo: The Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India. 24. 1–4. 1–27.
- Awasthi, D.D.. Mathur, R.. Species of the lichen genera Basidia, Badimia, Fellhanera and Mycobilimbia. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci.: Plant Sciences. 97. 481–503. 1987. 10.1007/BF03053554. 91265256.
- 3243803. New Species of Pertusaria (Lichenized Fungi) from India. Awasthi. Dharani Dhar. Srivastava. Preeti. The Bryologist. 1993. 96. 2. 210–215. 10.2307/3243803.
Books and monographs
External links
Notes and References
- Upreti, D. K.. Dalip Kumar Upreti. Dharni (sic) Dhar Awasthi (1922–2011). Current Science. 10 July 2012. 103. 1. 94. (This 2012 article erroneously states the year in which Awashti received his first Ph.D.)
- Web site: Deceased Fellow: Dr DD Awasthi. Indian National Science Academy. 2 December 2020. 10 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200810115256/http://insaindia.res.in/detail/N84-0033. dead.
- Web site: Yoshimura, Isao. Acharius Medallists: Dharani Awasthi. International Association of Lichenology (lichenology). 2 December 2020. 10 March 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070310221700/http://www.lichenology.org/Awards/Acharius_Awasthi.html. dead.
- Esslinger. Theodore L.. Studies in the Lichen Family Physciaceae. IV. Awasthia, a New Genus from the Himalayas. The Bryologist. 81. 3. 1978. 445–447. 0007-2745. 10.2307/3242252. 3242252.
- Web site: Dharani Awasthi Awards. International Association for Lichenology (lichenology.org).
- Review of A Compendium of the Macrolichens from India, Nepal and Sri Lanka by Dharani Dhar Awasthi. 2008. Wolseley. Patricia. Pat Wolseley. The Lichenologist. 40. 3. 267–268. 10.1017/S0024282908009146.
